Amy Tan Mother Tongue Analysis

Tan goes on to explain what sociological impacts she experienced based on her upbringing. She concludes that her mother should not be judged based on her “watered down” English, and that people should be more accepting to those who cannot express their feelings in English.

Mother Tongue is about the authors struggles with her linguistic identity, her mothers "fractured" or "broken" variation of english and the relationship with her mother. At the beginning of the piece we are told about the different types of english she would speak with her mother and with everyone else; we are then told how english wasn't Amy's strongest subject and later on we are told about the difficulties her mother experienced because of the way she spoke english and the prejudice she faced.

I really enjoyed reading both essays, because they had a story to it I was able to paint a picture of what both authors wrote and I was also able to relate because English is not my or my families first language and I understand Amy Tan situation in mothers tongue because I have been in the same situation when I had to pretend to be one of my parents because I some people would take them seriously because of the way they spoke English. And for superman and me again I was able to relate because I was able to understand certain things in school when I first came to Haiti so I would answer a few question but the students that were from America didn’t like that I was answering the question, I feel like they expected to dumb, lost and keep quiet

Amy Tan’s literacy narrative “Mother Tongue” is about the different dialects of English, she is familiar with. She explains that her intelligence is judged by the way she speaks. Amy Tan, explains memories from her life where she encounters many forms of English. Her mother, a Chinese immigrant spoke “broken English.” She describes her mother as someone who was able to understand English, well the mother claims that she understands everything, but when it came to speaking, she spoke without the correct grammar. Due to her mothers broken English, Amy Tan has adapted to the type of English her mother speaks, their own type of English language. Tan feels as if the English she is speaking with it outside world is more complex than the English she

In Mother Tongue, Amy Tan talks about how language influenced her life while growing up. Through pathos she explains to her audience how her experiences with her mother and the Chinese language she came to realize who she wanted to be and how she wanted to write.

She had to keep all these English’s separate because each was like its own language. If Amy were to mix them, it would become confusing and wouldn’t have made sense to her or her mother as they had grown accustomed to this language and communication. One language was the English she spoke to her mother. Amy had to simplify her English when speaking to her mother; Amy would speak the basic ideas of what she was trying to say to make it easier for her mother to comprehend. For example she said, “Not waste money that way” to her mother one day; she would even say this to her husband because it was routine to her to do so. When she made a speech once, she felt as if the way she was speaking was wrong because her mother was in the audience. A second English language to Amy was how her mother used English with her. Tan describes her mother’s English as “broken” or “fractured” language. This type of English affected Tan greatly; she said it limited her possibilities in life and also affected her performances in school when she took achievements tests, IQ tests, and the SAT because it limited her language skills. Another type of language that she grew up with was Amy’s translation of her mother’s Chinese. She described it as “watered down” and yet sometimes she would grow in confidence when she was on the phone with people because of this. However, later her self-esteem would lower because of

What does it feel like to be raised in an immigrant family? In the essay “Mother tongue” by Amy Tan, the author describes how her mother’s English influences her in her career and life that the “mother tongue” does not limit her as a writer, but shaped her and her perception on life instead. And her attitude to her mother’s English changes from the initial embarrassment to the final appreciation.

The article "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan shows firsthand instances of how Amy's mother was treated because of the way she spoke. She was disregarded, not taken seriously, and thought of as dim. The author uses logic, emotion, and reasoning to show why this way of thinking is not often true. The article’s main claim of how people perceive the intelligence of those who speak broken English is easily defined because of the authors use of writing techniques like telling personal stories, creating an appeal to emotion, and an appeal to logic.

In Amy Tan’s narrative, “Mothers Tongue”, Tan speaks about the unique dialect that she and her mother share. Only she could understand and conversations with her mother and understand every word she is saying. Tan writes about how she grew up with the variations of English; the perfect English that she spoke to the public, and the broken English she used with her mother. Tan writes that from a young age she was very embarrassed by the limited knowledge of English and how that “… reflected the quality of what she had to say.” (Tan, pg. 635) Tan reflects that with her mother’s limitations, she had to talk on her mother’s behalf just to have others hear what her mother had to say, Amy recalls a time where she was called to basically interpret

United by the obligations of the law, yet entirely divided by society, welcome to America. Patriots chant “equality” one moment, and “deport them” the next. Cruel, unaccepting, and uncompassionate, American society of the majority often appears to view itself as sovereign, turning a blind eye to, and often contributing to, the struggles of minorities. In “Mother Tongue”, Amy Tan (1990) does an excellent job of sharing her experience with similar issues as she tells her readers about the struggles her mother encountered due to being an immigrant who only spoke “broken” English. Society often put no weight into what Tan’s mother had to say, believing her ability to express her thoughts reflected the quality of said thoughts, which are of absolutely no correlation (Tan, 1990). This often led to Tan having to intervene for her mother, especially during serious situations that required resolution (Tan, 1990). Immigrants, no matter how intelligent or talented, may be plagued by continuous struggles because of a lack of understanding of English or American culture, stereotypes encouraged by the media, and discrimination, especially in the workplace.

The English language has many tongues. From the 1500’s where people started migrating to the thirteen colonies to today where America is surrounded by immigration. From the beginning of history, society has been shaping English and its quality. It’s shown in Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” the varying ways one speaks them, regardless of being the same language. The author’s mother is being discriminated against due to speaking a different English from the proper form of English. Amy uses her personal experiences to contribute to the English- speaking community about inequality of different tongues through rhetorical appeals such as pathos, ethos, and logos. Amy Tan in her essay “Mother Tongue” claims that foreigners and immigrants who can’t speak proper English are treated differently.

“We are a country where people of all backgrounds, all nations of origin, all languages, all religions, all races, can make a home. America was built by immigrants” Hillary Clinton stated. What she means in this quote is immigrants had a huge influence on America. America would be extremely different without them, without the diverse population here we would not know or be exposed to the different cultures, languages, and religions that we know today.

As person living with the gift of dual language, Tan’s essay allowed some insight into my own life. She argued that a person’s limitation on language does not reflect their perspective on society or events of the world. The limitation is more of a token than a deficiency, people having these language issues must come up with an exclusive way to portray thoughts and ideas; therefore, enhancing their perceptual knowledge of the world around. Growing up listening to my mother’s English, I have learned to adapt and am able to fully understand her, even though I constantly catch myself trying to correct her. The way she conveys her thoughts and ideas is what makes her unique and who am I to change her by correcting her idiosyncrasies. Although I have become accustomed to my mother’s English there are certain things she says that even

Tan’s attitude towards her mother’s English begins with embarrassment and humiliation. Growing up in an immigrant family which speaks imperfect English, Tan witnesses many discriminations that her mother has encountered in department stores or at banks, those experiences help to shape Tan’s opinion to her mother’s English. For example, Tan states that “[she] was ashamed of [her mother’s] English. [She] believed that [her mother’s] English reflected the quality of what [her] mother had to say” (508). In young Amy’s opinion, her mother’s expressions and thoughts are broken and imperfect like the way she speaks, and she believes that linguistic expression is linked to a person’s intelligence. As a result, she was ashamed of her mother in public because of her fractured English.

As Tan was growing up, the speech she used in her family environment affected her results on various tests at school. Many other Asian Americans had this similar problem, and had teachers "who are steering them away from writing and into math and science, which is what happened to me(Tan)."(Tan 64) This is because Math has only one correct answer, whereas English was a "matter of opinion and personal experience."(Tan 63) As a result of this, Tan drove herself to disprove others assumptions and became an English major. She wrote in a way to prove her "mastery" over the English language. An example she gives is this line, edited from the final version of her book, "'That was my mental quandary in its nascent state.'"(Tan 65) This is the type of language she uses in her professional life. Her words are "filled with carefully wrought grammatical phrases...all the forms of standard English that (she) had learned in school and through books."(Tan 61) Without realizing it at first, Tan widened the gap between her professional community and her private family